At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a major sales crisis for Madeira, which was a consequence of phylloxera, introduced in the 1850s, and powdery mildew, which appeared in the 1870s. In 1913, Welsh & Cunha and Henriques & Camara, and later other trading companies, joined forces on the Portuguese island to form the Madeira Wine Association in order to achieve synergy effects by pooling production costs. The individual Madeira companies or brands, however, remained largely independent. The two Madeira houses Blandy's and Leacock's merged in 1925 and joined as principal owners, with John Ernest Blandy as chairman and Thomas L. Mullins as managing director. Subsequently, other companies joined, including the large Cossart Gordon in 1953, and there was a regrouping under the name Madeira Wine Company in 1981.
In 1988, Blandy entered into a partnership with the well-known port house Symington in order to use their know-how in quality-oriented production and their worldwide distribution network. These two companies are now the main owners. In the main winery in Funchal, which was newly renovated in 2000, the 120 different brands of the 26 Madeira Houses are produced. The artificial heating during ageing (estufagem) takes place in giant tanks. Although the wines are stored together, they retain the individual style of each house. The best-known brands include Barros, Blandy, Cossart Gordon, Funchal Wine Company, Krohn Brothers, Leacock's, Luiz Gomes da Conceicão, Miles and Shortridge Lawton. Vintage wines dating back to the early 19th century are marketed. The Madeira production share of all brands is about 60%. See also under largest wine companies in the world.
